


The Toy Car Caper

by These_Crazy_Obsessions



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Adventure, Case Fic, Kid John, Kid Sherlock, Kidlock, exchangelock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-11
Updated: 2014-07-11
Packaged: 2018-02-08 11:20:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1939071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/These_Crazy_Obsessions/pseuds/These_Crazy_Obsessions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eight year old Sherlock Hated the park until the day he made a friend and solved a crime.</p><p>My exchangelock gift for firstdrafted on Tumblr</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Toy Car Caper

The Park. A ghastly, terrible place full of horrendous creatures masquerading around as children. They certainly couldn't be actual children, not with such awful behavior. You would never see Sherlock behaving in such a ridiculous manner. Running around screaming, swinging on dangerous equipment, giggling. Preposterous. Sherlock was much too mature for that. He still hadn't figured out what his mother expected him to gain from coming here. She certainly looked happy, chatting with the other mothers. He was left to waste in the sun, with nothing of interest to do. He looked around and saw a tree near by and began to head that way. Maybe his fair skin could be saved if he took shelter under there. 

As soon as he got close to the tree he noticed that it was already occupied. A boy was sitting on one of the branches, happily munching on an apple. Sherlock squinted at the boy, deciding the best way to get rid of him. He certainly didn't look like the type to frighten easily so scaring him was out. And he wouldn't run away from a fight so insulting him would be no good. The only thing for Sherlock to do was to make him feel stupid so he would want to leave. Surely it wouldn't take much to confuse him. It never did.

Sherlock walked over and cleared his throat, waiting for the other boy to notice him. As soon as he looked down Sherlock forgot what he had meant to say. That startled him and he stood there blinking at the other boy for a moment before finally opening his mouth.

"Hello there." not what he had thought would come out. The other boy smiled and kicked out his feet.

"Hi, I'm John. What's your name?"

"I'm Sherlock. What are you doing up there? That branch doesn't look like it will hold your weight much longer." Sherlock stepped closer to the base of the tree and looked at the limb again. It was definitely going to break, and soon.

"I guess I better get down then." John swung his legs hard and jumped, landing just in front of Sherlock. He turned and held out a hand.

"Nice to meet you." Sherlock stared at the hand for a moment before reaching out and taking it. The handshake was awkward but the other boy still smiled.

"Likewise." Sherlock said as he attempted a small smile.

"How old are you? You're awfully tall." John looked him up and down. 

"Eight. I assume you are around the same age as well?" John just nodded. Sherlock was about to suggest they sit when he heard one of the other kids crying. Normally Sherlock would just block it out but something was different about this cry. It wasn't the cry of a tired tot who didn't want to go home for nap time, nor the cry of someone who had been injured. Instead it was the sound one makes when something precious has been taken.

Quickly Sherlock turned and rushed toward the crying child. he looked around, observing. John followed and immediately knelt down and asked what was wrong. Before the child could answer, Sherlock spoke

"Isn't it obvious, John. His favorite toy car was stolen from him. Probably while he was busy sliding. he is upset because he thinks he's never going to see it again." Sherlock turned and stared directly into the boys eyes.

"When was the last time you saw your toy?" The boy blinked a couple of times and tried to speak. 

"Umm. I was-I set it down when I got here so I could swing. I saw it when I got off to go play on the slide. But now it's gone!" The tears started again and Sherlock recoiled. 

"Ugh. I have no time for your tears. If you want me to find the culprit I cannot be distracted by your whining." Sherlock again looked around the 'crime scene' and then smiled. 

"I believe I found something." He picked up what looked like a piece of dirt to John and held it close to his face. 

"Just as I thought. Come on, John." He rushed off toward the other side of the park. John stood for a moment, shocked that Sherlock wanted him to come before finally jogging to catch up. 

Sherlock was headed toward the basketball courts. Not a part of the park John liked to go to. It was mostly occupied by older kids who tried to mess with John. Sherlock did not seem to care that everyone here was at least three years older than him and could probably knock him out with one punch. Sherlock walked to the side of the court where most of the boys had deposited their bags and water bottles. He walked around them for a moment before walking straight into the middle of the court, interrupting the game. 

"Hello, gentlemen. I think you should go and check your bags, as it appears someone has been rummaging through them." The tweens dropped their basketballs and ran to inspect their belongings. As soon as they noticed what items were missing, they turned and stalked over to Sherlock. 

"I bet you think you're funny, don't you?" One of the boys said as he grabbed the front of Sherlock's shirt. He attempted a punch but Sherlock was able to break free from his grip and duck before the blow connected. He took a few steps back as the boy swung again. The other tweens began to form a circle around the two, cutting off any chance of escape for Sherlock.

"Give us our stuff back before we beat you." The boy attempted yet another punch, and it again missed it's target as Sherlock stepped to the side. Sherlock was getting bored of dodging blows and rolled his eyes at the boy. They were all such simpletons.

"You certainly aren't a bright one. Why would I tell you that your things were missing if I stole them?" He raised his eyebrows and waited. The boy dropped his raised fists and frowned at him . 

"If you didn't take our stuff, then who did?" Sherlock smiled and clapped his hands together.

"That, my dear boy, is what I'm going to find out. I need all of you to think back and try to remember if you have seen anyone suspicious recently. Probably within the last hour." The group was quiet as they thought for a moment before one finally spoke up

"That homeless man was hanging around about thirty minutes ago. He sleeps on a bench near the park entrance. He was yelling at a dog and stumbling around." Sherlock nodded and headed toward the location, determined to find the missing items. He turned to make sure John was following and smiled when he saw that he was. 

"What do you think John? Who would take things from children?" 

"I don't know. Maybe another kid. I don't know what an adult would want with a toy car." 

"People do crazy things John. Maybe we have a lunatic on our hands who steals anything he can get his hands on. Or maybe a toddler found a toy and decided it was his. But that wouldn't explain the other missing things. I guess we will have to gather more evidence." They were nearing the entrance and Sherlock could see a man sitting on the bench, mumbling to himself. As they approached the man looked up.

"What do you want? Came to mock me, huh? Like all the other kids do? Not one of you brats has an ounce of respect for a man like me. Probably think I'm trash. Well get away. I'm in no mood to deal with you today." Sherlock simply sighed and began to look the man up and down

"You know sir, you'd have better luck changing your situation if you stopped the excessive drinking. Is that's what's been taken from you? Your precious alcohol? I can see from the stains on your shirt you've already been drinking heavily today. It's barely two o'clock." Sherlock shook his head and walked slowly around the bench.

"Why were you yelling at a dog? seems odd. did the animal bite you?" The man shook his head.

"No, it woke me up. Came around, nudging my hands like it wanted something. I scared it off." Sherlock closed his eyes, collecting himself before speaking. being rude to this man would get them nowhere.

"Whoever took your stash did the world a favor. But, it is likely that whoever took your things also took the other victims belongings." Sherlock noticed that John was looking at him funny. He wasn't sure he liked it.

"What?" 

"Nothing." Sherlock wasn't convinced 

"Tell me the truth, John. What is it?" 

" Nothing. I just think that what you're doing is pretty cool." John looked at his feet in embarrassment. 

"Oh." Sherlock had never heard the word cool associated with himself before. He smiled awkwardly and cleared his throat before bending down to examine the ground around the bench. He picked up what looked like a hair before standing and shoving it in his pocket. 

"Come on, John. We have a criminal to catch." He walked back toward the playground where the little boy still sat crying. 

"I believe I know who took your toy. If you would follow me." He didn't wait for the boy to respond as he walked toward a grassy area where a dog was standing. As they approached, the dog wondered off. 

"Where are we going?" John asked as he struggled to keep up with Sherlock 

"Isn't it obvious?" Sherlock began to jog to keep up with the animal. Soon they came to a maintenance shed and followed the dog around to the back. There up against the back of the shed, was a pile of clothes, toys and bottles of alcohol. 

"How did you know it was the dog?" John asked as he shooed the animal away and began to look through the pile. It was at that time the little boy caught up. 

"There was dog hair at all three places" Sherlock pulled the hair out of his pocket and watched as John sifted through the pile then looked up. 

"There's no car in this pile, Sherlock." 

"There has to be." Sherlock bent down and began to go through the pile. After a moment he stood and growled in frustration. 

"I don't understand!" He stomped away from the others and headed back toward the scene of the crime. He could hear the others follow but chose to ignore them. The evidence all suggested that the dog had taken all those things. 

"all of the places had dog hair. And around the bench and around where the car was taken both had paw prints in the dirt. If the dog didn't snatch it, then who did? I must have missed something." He neared the location and saw a woman looking around worriedly. Her face softened as the boy behind him ran toward her. 

"Oh, Mike. I thought you had wondered off." She hugged him while Sherlock began to squint at the ground. 

"I'm sorry. We were just trying to find my car." Mike said as fresh tears welled in his eyes. 

"I have your car right here, dear. I saved it from being chewed on by a dog and put it in my purse." She pulled the car out of her purse and handed it to a now beaming Mike. The two walked toward the entrance of the park, before Mike turned and yelled 

"Thanks, Mate!" Sherlock just stood there, sulking at the fact he hadn't solved the case. John let him brood for a moment before interrupting. 

"How did you know though? About the basketball court? You knew to head to the basketball court." 

"Oh that. There were pieces of gravel on the ground from the basketball court , probably brought here on the paws of the dog. It wasn't hard to see." John just tilted his head to the side confused. 

"You know how to tell gravel apart from the regular old dirt?" Sherlock simply nodded 

"That's so cool." John smiled and was about to speak again when his mother called out to him. 

"Guess it's time to go. I'll see you tomorrow." He said before happily running to his mother, wildly exclaiming about his fun. Sherlock smiled. Maybe the park wasn't as bad as he thought.


End file.
